Water control roller for offset presses



Patented Feb. 5, 1952 OFFICE WATER CONTROL ROLLER FOR OFFSET PRESSES Raymond C. Delaplane, Denver, Colo.

Application June 30, 1949, Serial No. 102,350

- 4'0laims. 1

This invention relates to a water control roller for lithographic presses of the offset type, and more particularly to the type of water control roller illustrated and described in applicants Patent No. 2,162,248, issued June 13, 1939.

It is very seldom, if ever, that the particular job on the lithographic presses overlies the entire surface of the printing plate or roll and it is therefore desirable to retard the water from being applied to the non-printing portion of the roll, since these portions will accumulate the water until it will run or spread over the printing area to interfere with the efficient offsetting of the latter.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a control roll which can be readily adjusted along and against any desired portion or portions of the water fountain roller of the press so as to act as a wringer or squeegee to roll back the water or solution from the portions which are to be applied outside the printing surface.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the roller and its support that it can be quickly and easily changed to cover various widths of surfaces and so that it can be accurately regulated to contact with any desired pressure at any point throughout its length.

While the invention is particularly designed for reducing or limiting the water on the unused portions of the plate, it is so accurately adjustable that it can be used to control the uniformity of the water or solution over the printing surface of the plate.

The usual dampening rollers of an offset press are covered with a fabric, such as molleton, wrapped over a flannel undercovering. It is, of course, impossible to place these coverings with an absolute even and uniform surface. There- .fore, certain portions of the dampening roll will carry too much water or solution to the plate. This excess water'must be controlled in order to obtain uniformly perfect lithographing. With this invention, the water at any portion of the plate can be accurately, controlled to obtain a uniform dampening of the entire plate surface.

A further object is to so design the control so that it will occupy but a minimum of space and will not interfere in any Way with the operation of the press or with access to the water pan thereon.

The water control roller illustrated in the said (Cl. 101-148) I justment of pressure necessary for accuratewater control; and it was impossible to position adjacent rollers sufliciently close together to prevent a water streak therebetween.

A still further object of this invention is t provide awater control roller for offset presses which can be applied to any of the standard types of presses, without requiring any changes or machine work on the latter; which will allow a very delicate and minute pressure control to be had; which will allow the rollers to be placed sulficiently close together to cover a large area without water streaks showing between the rollers;

and which will not interfere with the operation of the press in any way.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efiiciency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the inVentI n reference is had tothe accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, perspective view, illustrating a portion of an offset lithographic press, illustrating the invention in place thereon;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged end view of the improved water control roller device;

Fig. 3 is a similarly enlarged, fragmentary, front view of one extremity of the improved control roller device; and p Fig. 4 is a detail, perspective view, illustrating a bearlng spring employed in the improved water control roller. 1 1

In Fig. 1 the usual water pan of a lithographic press is indicated at ID, with the water fountain.-'

roll at H, fountain roll drive at l2, and water pan supporting bar at I3. The fountain rollfll rotates partiallysubmerged in the water in the pan [0 and is covered with a suitable fabric to absorb water from the pan. The water is intermittently transferred from the fountain roll II to a ductor roll [4, which in turn transfers it to water distributing rolls I 5. The distributing rolls transfer the water to a pair of dampening rolls l6 which are in contact with the printing plate of the plate cylinder of the press. 7 i

This invention is designed to be applied to the water pan supporting bar l3. On most presses the water pan l0 rests directly on the bar 13 so that.it is,impossible.to place a sleeve or collar around this rod for supporting water control rollers. In other presses the mechanism at each end of the pan l prevents placing a supporting bracket at the ends of the pan.

In this invention these difficulties are avoided by employing an open collar H, the top of which is cut away, as indicated at l8, so that when placed on the pan-supporting bar |3 it will not extend above the upper surface thereof to interfere with the pan supported thereon. This allows the pan I0, tores t directly on the bar l3, as shown in Fig. 2, and still allows the collar I! to surround the major portion of the bar. The collar is looked to the bar l3 by means of two hollow, headless set screws, a bottom set screw |9 and a side set screw 20. and adapt the collar to rods ofvarious diameters.

The lower extremity of an inverted reshaped supporting bracket 2| is slipped over the projecting portion of the set screw 2|] and is locked in place thereon by means. of a lock nut 22 which isthreaded on the threadsof the set screw-2i].

In applying the roller to a press, two of the collars -|'|,.each carrying oneof the brackets 2|, are positioned on the pan-supporting bar I3 beneath the pan ll] so as to extend upwardly on the front side, thence rearwardly over the top thereof, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

Each of the. supporting brackets 2| carries a cylindrical sleeve 23 which is secured thereto by meansofa suitable cap screw 26. A length of brass pipe 25 is passed through both sleeves 23, and is locked against rotation in .the sleeves 23 by meansof suitable set screws 26.

The improved water control rollers aresupported from the pipe 25. They can be moved along this .pipe to an desired positions thereon, depending upon the size and position of the printing area on the printing plate. are made in variouslengths, and can be used in any desired multiples, depending upon the particular job in hand.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, two of the control rollers, indicated at'2 l, are shownin place. 'Each roller consists of a length of relatively thick, soft rubber tubing, designated by the numeral 21, mounted on a roller shaft 28 and positioned between end washers 29-. forced thereon. The extremitiesof the shaft 28 project beyondeach extremity oftherubber tubing 2-7. f

The extremities of the roller shaft 28 arereceived in tubular bends 30 formed on the extremities of fiat, elongated, leaf-type roller springs 3| provided with an attachment hole 39. Each roller spring 3| is clamped between a spring arm 32 .and a hexagonal .pipe block 33, through which the pipe 25 passes. The spring arms 32 are clamped to the blocks 33 by means ofsuitable cap :screws 34 which pass through theholes 39 inthe springs 3|. The hexagonal blocks 3-3 are locked against rotation on the pipe 25 by means of thumb-type set screws 35.

A spring-adjusting screw 36 provided with a knurled head 31, is threaded through each of the arms 32 directly over the tubular bends 30in the springs 3|. Tighteningof the screws 35 will cause their :points to bear against the springs 3|, forcingcthe extremities of the roller shaft 28 away. from their arms 32. vThe screws 36 are retained-in any pre-set position by means of helical locking springs 38 whichusurround. the screws and frictionally engagethe heads thereof.

Let us assume that the job. on the printing plate covers the full width of thepress rollers except. for a relatively narrow band adjacent The two screws L9;

The rollers 4 the left extremity and a relatively wide band adjacent the center. To prevent excess water from spreading on these areas, a relatively short roller 27 is positioned adjacent the vacant area at the left, and a relatively long roller 21 is positioned opposite the vacant center area, as shown in Fig. 1. The rollers are brought to rest against the fabric of the Water roll II, and the hexagonal blocks 33 are locked in place by means of the set screws .35. V

The screws 37 are now adjusted while the press is operating, to obtain the exact uniform squeezing or wringing action desired on the roll fabric. Thisadjustment can be made with micrometric accuracy by means of the screws 31 to obtain perf t W 1 It is to be understood that the position of the rollers, the length of the latter, and the number thereof can be readily varied to suit the particular job being run. It will be noted that the arms 32 and the blocks 33 are relatively narrow so that two rollers can'be positioned closely adjacent each other so as to prevent a damaging water streak therebetween.

While a specific form of the'improvement has been described andillustratedherein, it is to be understood that the same may'be'varied, within the scope of the appendedclaims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A water control roller for a lithograph press comprising: a pair of block members; a shaft passing through both block members; means for preventing rotation of said members on said shaft; anarm extending forwardly from eachof said block members; a leaf spring clamped between each block member and its arm and extending longitudinally of and below said arm; a cylindrical loop integrally formed in the extremity of each spring; a, resilient roller rotatably journalled in said loops and extending between sa d sp an means fe r g sa d pr gs away from their adiacent'arms.

2 Awater control roller for a. lithograph press comprising: a paircf block members; a shaft passing through both block members; means for preventing rotation of said members on said shaftranarmextending forwardly from each of i v l ck members; a eaf ,Sgrifig clampedbfie n each. block. memb r an t a ma d ex.- tendiris on itudi ally 9i and b w a arm; a cylindrical loop integrally formed in the extremi y of each sprin a resilien 1101 .r tab y iournalied in said l ops an extending betw en.

said springs; and a springeadjusting screw threaded through, each arm intocontact with the adjacent spring to prevent flexure of .the latter and for varying the spacing between said spring and saidarm.

3. A water control roller for lithograph presses comprising-:- a roller shaft; a tubular, resilient roller surrounding said roller shaft intermediatethe extremities thereof; aresilient bracket supporting each extremity of said roller shaft; a block member secured to each resilient bracket; a pipe extending through both block members; means for'locking said block members at any desired position on said pipe; a supporting sleeve surrounding said pipe adjacent each extremity thereof; an inverted, L-shaped bracket'member extending outwardly and downwardly from eachsleeve; a clamping collar secured on the lower extremity of each bracket and adapted-torewill not extend above the top of said rod; and r set screws in said collars for locking the latter to said I'Qd.

4. Means for adjustably supporting a water controlfroller on a lithographic press comprising: a pair,-f spaced-apart blocks; means for attaching said-blocks to said press; a rigid arm secured on a flat surface of each block and extending sidewardly therefrom parallel to each otherj' 'va flexible strip clamped between each arm and its adjacent-b1? and extending ngitudinally jneath the adjacent arm; a loop formed integral- I 1y from each strip at the extremity thereon a roller-shaft having its extremities mounted in said loops and extending therebetween; a water control roller on said shaft; and means for forcing the extremities of said flexible strips away from said arms to adjust the position of the roller extremities.

RAYMOND C. DELAPLANE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,364,257 Dobbertin Jan. 4, 1921 2,162,248 Delaplane June 13, 1939 2,340,327 Jagger et a1. Feb. 1, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date Great Britain May 13, 1948 

